CODEWITHSUNDEEP
javascriptregex
TheLearner
TheLearner

Reputation: 2873

Regex to reject names ending in non-letters except dot

I have written a regex that returns true or false depending on whether the text provided is a valid first/last name:

let letters = `a-zA-Z`;
  letters += `àáâäãåąčćęèéêëėįìíîïłńòóôöõøùúûüųūÿýżźñçčšž`;
  letters += `ÀÁÂÄÃÅĄĆČĖĘÈÉÊËÌÍÎÏĮŁŃÒÓÔÖÕØÙÚÛÜŲŪŸÝŻŹÑßÇŒÆČŠŽ∂ð`;
  const re = new RegExp(`^[${letters}][${letters} ,.'’-]+[${letters}.]$`, 'u')
  return(name.match(re));

So far, I'm able to ensure it only validates names that actually start with a letter and do not contain numerals or any special characters other than dot, hyphen, or comma. However, it still rejects names like Jo and Xi. I understand it's due to the three separate $-blocks. But the blocks are there to ensure the name doesn't start with a non-letter or end in a non-letter other than dot. How should I modify my expression to accommodate this?

Also, is there any way to shorten this expression without compromising its range? I still need it to cover extended Latin characters.

Upvotes: 1

Views: 182

Answers (1)

The fourth bird
The fourth bird

Reputation: 163642

If the minimum length of the word is 2 chars, you could use a negative lookahead ^(?!.*[ ,'’]$) to assert that the string does not end with the characters that you would not allow and leave out the last [${letters}.]

Regex demo

If the minimum length is 1, you could use another negative lookahead (?![ .,'’]) and add the dot as well so that a single dot is not allowed at the beginning and then use the single character class that contains all allowed characters.

^(?!.*[ ,'’]$)(?![ .,'’])[a-zA-ZàáâäãåąčćęèéêëėįìíîïłńòóôöõøùúûüųūÿýżźñçčšžÀÁÂÄÃÅĄĆČĖĘÈÉÊËÌÍÎÏĮŁŃÒÓÔÖÕØÙÚÛÜŲŪŸÝŻŹÑßÇŒÆČŠŽ∂ð ,.'’-]+$

Regex demo

Upvotes: 2

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